impair

¹ American  

[im-pair] / ɪmˈpɛər /

verb (used with object)

1. to make or cause to become worse; diminish in ability, value, excellence, etc.; weaken or damage.

   to impair one's health;

   to impair negotiations.

   Antonyms:

   repair

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verb (used without object)

1. to grow or become worse; lessen.

noun

1. Archaic. impairment.

impair ² American  

[an-per] / ɛ̃ˈpɛr /

adjective

French.

1. noting any odd number, especially in roulette.

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impair British  

/ ɪmˈpɛə /

verb

1. (tr) to reduce or weaken in strength, quality, etc

   his hearing was impaired by an accident

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Related Words

See injure.

Other Word Forms

• impairable
  adjective
• impairer
  noun
• impairment
  noun
• nonimpairment
  noun
• preimpairment
  noun
• self-impairable
  adjective
• self-impairing
  adjective
• unimpairable
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of impair¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English empairen, empeiren “to make worse,” from Middle French empeirer, from em- im- ¹ + peirer “to make worse” (from Late Latin pējōrāre, verb derivative of Latin pējor “worse”; cf. pejoration)

Origin of impair²

First recorded in 1820–30; from French: literally, “odd,” from Latin impār “odd, unequal”; equivalent to im- ² ( def. ) + pair ² ( def. )

Explanation

If you make bad decisions in the morning after drinking coffee, you might conclude that caffeine tends to impair your judgment. When you impair something, you damage it or make it work poorly. The root of the verb impair traces back to the Latin word pejorare, meaning “to make worse,” and that’s still what happens if you impair something. Whether it’s communication, visibility, or your marriage prospects, if you impair it, you make it worse. The word can be used for situations that describe something that has deteriorated, such as “Snow continued to impair driving conditions.”

Example Sentences

It was a network of hopes; which at the announcement, 'Sept, Rouge, Impair, et Manque,' disappeared like magic gossamer, to be replaced in a moment by new.

From A Laodicean : a Story of To-day by Hardy, Thomas

Thus Impair contains 10 Red numbers, and but 8 Black ones.

From Hoyle's Games Modernized by Hoffmann, Louis

Thus a player staking on Black and Impair has no less than twenty-eight numbers in his favour, on eight of which he wins both his stakes, and on twenty he neither wins nor loses.

From Hoyle's Games Modernized by Hoffmann, Louis

Moreover, if you have placed another sum of money in the compartment inscribed, in legible yellow colours, "Impair," or Odd, you will receive the equivalent to your stake—twenty-nine being an odd number.

From The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and Victims Volume I (of II) by Steinmetz, Andrew

Besides the three even chances: Red, Black; Pair, Impair; Passe or Manque, one single number may be backed.

From Hoyle's Games Modernized by Hoffmann, Louis

Related Words

• blunt
• damage
• debilitate
• decrease
• destroy
• diminish
• hurt
• lessen
• mar
• prejudice
• reduce
• spoil
• tarnish
• undermine
• weaken
• worsen